The Apollonian and the Dionysian Dichotomy in The Heart of Darkness

1. The Apollonian and the Dionysian Dichotomy in The Heart of Darkness • Although the ancient Greeks never saw any conflict of contention between Apollo and Dionysus, thinkers and writers of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries used the two as a metaphor for the human condition and therefore a way to analyze literary works. Apollo was the Greek god of light and is associated with the sun. In addition to being the god of music, poetry and prophecy; he was also the god of medicine, reason and self-restraint. Dionysus, on the other hand, was a god of wine. He was born each year and quickly attracted a group of ardent followers who drank wine, danced wildly, and went into frenzies while Dionysus played his flute. At the end of the year, in a final, wild celebration, his followers would seize him and rip him to pieces in an uncontrollable religious passion. He is associated with the moon, with loss of control and with the absence of restraint.

2. In the nineteenth century, the German philosopher Nietzsche used these two ancient gods as metaphors to examine works of literature, especially the genre of tragedy. His ideas, in many ways, are also found in the theories of Freud. The Apollonian impulse is for rationality, thought before action, and self-restraint. The Dionysian impulse is toward irrationality, giving in to impulse, and the removal of all boundaries.